Fiber-optic sensors are increasingly being used as devices for sensing some quantity, typically temperature or mechanical strain, but sometimes also displacements, vibrations, pressure, acceleration, rotations, or concentrations of chemical species. The general principle of such devices is that light from a laser is sent through an optical fiber and there experiences subtle changes of its parameters either in the fiber or in one or several fiber Bragg gratings and then reaches a detector arrangement which measures these changes.
The growing interest in fiber optic sensors is due to a number of inherent advantages:                Inherently safer operation (no electrical sparks)        Immunity from EMI (electromagnetic interference)        Chemical passivity (not subject to corrosion)        Wide operating temperature range (wider than most electronic devices)        Electrically insulating (can be used in high voltage environment)        
In many applications, the sensor is devised in such a way that the parameter of interest, for example, pressure, is converted into mechanical strain in the fiber. To maintain the accuracy of the sensor, it is necessary that the attachment of the fiber to the device be strong and reliable. Any slippage of the fiber within its mount, or any creep of the bonding material if one is used, will change the output of the sensor and be the source of error. There is a need for reliable methods to mount the optical fiber on strain-based sensing devices. Because many devices depend on keeping the fiber sensing element in tension, there is a need to maintain the fiber in tension such that slippage and other deleterious effects are avoided or minimized.